Sunday 04-28-13 - Living Grace Fellowship

And He Healed them all: Healing under the New Covenant II.mp3

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Key Text:

Mark 16:15-18

James 5:13-20

I Cor. 11:1-3

I Cor. 11:17-34

NOTE: we had about a 20 min. Q&A time which I separated from the body of the main message. You can download it by right clicking and choosing “Save Link [or file] as” or you can listen to it right now in your browser by clicking here: Q&A Time [04-28-13]

Q&A Time:

Today we began by answering a question from last Wednesday. It regarded intercessory prayer under the New Covenant.

What prompted my statement, and thus the question was our account of Elihu as a messenger and mediator for Job, so let’s look at that first.

What is a messenger? The word is Malak and is the same word used for angels. It simply means to dispatch as a deputy; a messenger; one delegated to represent another or speak their words – an ambassador.

What is a mediator? In this case it actually means an interpreter or teacher to stand between God and Job. This is what Job had desired and God granted it to him.

“For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together. Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both.” ~ Job 9:32-33

So Elihu was delegated with authority from God to represent God’s uprightness and interpret what was happening to Job in that light.

“If there is a messenger for Him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness, Then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’” ~Job 33:23-24

That God looks for mediators under the Old Covenant is evidenced by these verses Ezek. 22:29-31. It is also clear from these verses that God does not always find one. However, in the case of Job, God found a mediator named Elihu!

But Elihu was also a covering for Job…

Elihu said,

“Give ear, Job, listen to me; Hold your peace, and I will speak. If you have anything to say, answer me; Speak, for I desire to justify you.” ~ Job 33:31-32

The word justify is a TERRIBLE translation! It is actually the Hebrew word for atonement which means a covering.

The word atonement is so misused in the church today because it is used in connection with Jesus’ blood which is blasphemous. Now I understand that it is used by those who do not understand the meaning of the word and so is NOT meant to show disrespect for Jesus’ precious blood, but it is a horrible statement none the less. Jesus’ blood did not simply “cover” our sins (that is atone for them) but His blood entirely eradicated them – taking them once and for all out of the way!

So Elihu was saying to Job “I desire to act as a covering for you”. Again, this is something which Job later did for his three friends.

So while teaching this last Wednesday, I mentioned that under the New Covenant there was no need for anyone to serve in the capacity of a mediator anymore. God has brought an end to the division or separation between Himself and mankind as a whole. The veil has been torn and the New and Living way has been procured by His blood into union with God – there is NO MORE DISTANCE between God and Mankind.

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” ~ Jer. 31:33-34

NOTE: This is not an appeal to Universalism, for the scriptures are very clear that even though redemption has been purchased it is NOT applied to anyone outside of faith in Christ.

In keeping with this thought I had mentioned that there was no mention of intercessory prayer in the New Testament which placed a person in the position of “standing in the gap” for another. For those outside of the Charismatic/Word of Faith movement this would seem like a foreign concept to begin with, but for those of us who were deeply entrenched in that type of theology, this statement sounds 100% anti-biblical. Never the less, it is a fact!

There is only one mention of the word “intercession” throughout the whole New Testament in relation to a Christian’s prayer life and it is found in 1 Timothy 2:1,

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,…“

Here the word intercessions is the Greek word εντευξις and means, a falling in with, meeting with, coming together, intercession, prayer, address to God for oneself or others. The fact that it includes doing this type of prayer for oneself makes it very clear that it does not mean to stand in the gap between God and man, for how can one person stand in the gap between God and themselves? Furthermore, as we already established THERE IS NO GAP TO STAND BETWEEN!

I discussed this in our Q&A time in the separate recording linked above.

Overview:

Healing as a spiritual gift

There are differences in manifestations of healing under the New Covenant and spiritual gifts is one of them and should not be confused with the general anointing we all have a s believers to lay hands on the sick – Mark 16:15-17.

Spiritual Gifts:

I Cor. 12:1-27 (vs. 29 – difference between have all and are all)

In Verse 9 the word healings is in the plural, referring to different kinds of disease which need different kinds of healing. Though a different word is employed, examples of this concept are found in Matt. 10:1 & Acts 9:34.

The scriptures are not clear about this, but it seems that this gift offers miraculous healing rather than a slow mending together. NOTHING ABOUT THE WORDS IMPLIES INSTANT HEALING – but we can safely infer it from the fact that they did NOT say the same words as appear in Mark 16.

Let’s look at Mark 16,

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs (miracles or wonders) will follow those who believe:

In My name they will…

cast out demons;
they will speak with new tongues;
they will take up (put away or remove) serpents – Act_28:1-6
and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them;
they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” ~ Mark 16:15-18

Remember we said that if Mark 16 can be trusted as belonging in the canon of scripture then every believer can lay hands on any believer and they WILL recover.

This is a “sign” which follows those who believe these things.

Another provision for healing:

James 5:13-17

There is a pattern or rhythm to these verses which goes like this…

Is one of you suffering? Let him pray.

Is any one in good spirits? Let him sing a psalm.

Is any one ill? Let him send for the Elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, after anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

In the first two instances, the person experiencing the suffering or the joy is encouraged to act for themselves. However, in the third instance, the one who is sick is encouraged to call and let the elders pray.

Now that this is NOT the only way to get healed is evident by all that we have covered before, but this is something which is for those who are particularly overcome with sickness and are having difficulty believing for themselves. This is evidenced by the overall tone and context of this passage in both what precedes it and in what follows.

There are several key points to this method of healing which are discussed further in the recording, but these are an outline in brief…

The sick person must be part of a local body over which elders preside
The sick person must be submitted to (place themselves under) the authority of the elders
By calling upon them, the sick person is placing the healing of their body into the authority of the elders as their spiritual covering.
The elders (plural) prayer of relational trust in the provision of Christ, along with the anointing of oil WILL SAVE THE SICK.
This also will forgive any sins committed even though no mention is made of confession to the Lord or the elders (not that one would have to confess to an elder anyway).

There is MUCH to these verses, and MUCH of it has to do with the provision of delegated authority God has bequeathed the elders over the sheep for their protection, provision and comfort.

I will offer here one brief example of this found in the words of this very passage.

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.“ ~ James 5:14

This underlined phrase actually means ~ in the authority and character of Christ.

All true elders already have established and well verified approved character or they cannot be elders (I Tim. 3:1-7 & Titus 1:5-9), but that in this case, they have the authority of Christ (such as he delegated to His own disciples when He sent them out – Matt. 10:1) to heal all manner of sickness and disease for those sheep who place themselves under their spiritual authority. There is NO ambiguity about this statement – the claim is that “The prayer of faith WILL HEAL THE SICK”.

For much more depth concerning this teaching please listen to the recording.

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!